Follow That Still

Title screen

Season 2, Episode 15
Original Air Date: 18 January 1980
Directed by: Jack Whitman
Written by: William Raynor and Myles Wilder
Created by: Gy Waldron

Plot Summary

The stolen APC

"In Hazzard County, hunting season allows three weeks for deer, two for quail, and it's open season all year on Dukes and moonshiners." Hard Luck Jones has been getting into trouble with revenuers for years, and Agent Buchanon thinks he's caught him again until Bo and Luke blow up his still. Back at the Duke Farm, Uncle Jesse suggests to Hard Luck that he should try farming instead, and even offers help.

Over at the Boar's Nest, Boss has bought himself an armored personnel carrier (APC) to form part of a war memorial. In reality, he just wants to use it to hide contraband cigarettes.

Spotting the potential for a mobile still site, Hard Luck steals the APC during the night. When Bo and Luke arrive at his farm the next morning it's deserted. They quickly find the APC (complete with still), and decide to move it as Rosco's sniffing around. It's a great plan until the APC breaks down on Duke property. After camouflaging the APC, Bo and Luke head for town so L.B. can fix the broken part.

It doesn't take long for Hard Luck to sniff out his still and resume 'shine production. That gets the attention of Uncle Jesse, who gives Hard Luck a lecture on the trouble he could cause the Dukes. They also reminisce about making ‘shine for each other's weddings.

Bo returns with the fixed part, and all three set off in the APC. After collecting Luke and Daisy along the way, they manage to take out Enos's car with a shell they find aboard the APC. They also roll straight over Rosco's car and blow up the still with the last shell. Once the floor is clear, Bo discovers the hidden cigarettes and they all start to throw them out. When Luke realizes the brakes have failed, they all abandon the APC. The APC comes to rest in the wall of the Boar's Nest. Buchanon has to settle for arresting Flint and Miller, the criminals who wanted Boss's cigarettes. He also gets Hard Luck a job at a legal distillery.

Commentary

Rosco's past as an honest lawman, first mentioned in One Armed Bandits, is hinted at again when Buchanon say, "You used to be the best sheriff in this state. Now you ain't worth a hill of beans."

Trivia

The covered bridge

• The covered bridge that appears in many episodes, and many other TV shows, was located on Disney's Golden Oak Ranch, near Santa Clarita. Some of the Golden Oak sets like the Boar's Nest and Burl Tolliver's house disappeared years ago, but the bridge was still visible on aerial views until 2012 when it went missing. After some construction/landscaping work in the area, the bridge (or a replica) now appears to be back in place.
• Since Luke diagnosed the problem with the APC, and has experience with them from the Marines, it would be more logical for him to fix it rather than Bo. In reality, Tom Wopat never learned to swim (despite Catherine Bach's attempts to teach him), so John Schneider got to do all the water-based scenes such as this and the one in the next episode.
• This is the last appearance of Longstreet B. Davenport, but Ernie Lively returned as Clyde, The Guard in The Ransom of Hazzard County.
• Ted Markland (Flint) also played Perry in Danger on the Hazzard Express.
• John Crawford (Buchanon) made a return visit to Hazzard as Randall in Dukes in Danger.

Bloopers

• In another well-known goof, the contraband cigarettes continue to be thrown from the APC, even when there's no one left inside.
• Buchanon says that the APC has a spiked 40-millimeter (just over 1½ inch) cannon, but the live ammunition found inside is much larger, and would not fit down the barrel. The APC appears to be an FMC M59, which was only equipped with a .50-caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun. The M84 was a modified M59 which had a 4.2-inch mortar, but the mortar was mounted in the rear and required the roof to be open for firing.

Regular Cast

• Tom Wopat as Luke Duke
• John Schneider as Bo Duke
• Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke
• Denver Pyle as Uncle Jesse
• Sonny Shroyer as Enos
• James Best as Sheriff Rosco Coltrane
• Sorrell Booke as Boss Hogg
• Waylon Jennings as The Balladeer (voice)

Guest Cast

• Fred Stuthman as Hard Luck Jones
• John Crawford as Buchanon
• Ernie Lively (as Ernie W. Brown) as Longstreet B. Davenport
• Ted Markland as Flint
• J. J. Johnson as Miller

• 
  Fred Stuthman as Hard Luck Jones
• 
  John Crawford as Buchanon
• 
  Ernie Lively as Longstreet B. Davenport

• 
  Ted Markland as Flint
• 
  J. J. Johnson as Miller
  (with Boss Hogg)

Crew

• Supervising Producer: Rod Amateau
• Co-Produced by: Gy Waldron and Ralph Riskin
• Executive Producer: Paul R. Picard
• Executive Story Consultants: William Raynor and Myles Wilder
• Story Editor: Bruce Howard
• Associate Producers: Skip Ward and Albert J. Salzer
• Director of Photography: William Cronjager
• Art Director: James Martin Bachman (as James-Martin Bachman)
• Title Song Composed and Sung by: Waylon Jennings
• Music by: Fred Werner
• Unit Production Manager: Albert J. Salzer
• First Assistant Director: Kelly A. Manners
• Second Assistant Director: Nicholas Batchelor
• Second Unit Director: Paul Baxley
• Second Unit Director of Photography: Arthur R. Botham (as Arthur Botham)
• Second Unit First Assistant Director: Jon Paré
• Supervising Editor: Russell Livingstone (as Russ Livingstone)
• Film Editor: Howard Epstein
• Music Editor: Jay Alfred Smith
• Sound Editors: Ed Scheid and Gary Vaughan (as Gary Vaughn)
• Sound: Victor Goode
• Set Decorator: Rochelle Moser
• Property: Daniel Stoltenberg (as Dan Stoltenberg)
• Special Effects: Michael Wood
• Makeup: Ray Brooks
• Hair Stylist: Virginia Darcy
• Men's Costume Supervisor: Bob Christenson
• Women's Costume Supervisor: Darlene Engle
• Casting: Vivian McRae
• Creative Consultant: Philip Mandelker
• Location Facilities Provided by: The Burbank Studios
• A Lou Step Production in Association with Warner Bros Television

Own Follow That Still

Follow That Still
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